


Pizza and Chocolate

by ephemeralstark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hinted at Previous Liz/Peter, Identity Reveal, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Has Anxiety, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker meets Rhodey, Rhodey Deserves Love Too, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark has Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26619043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephemeralstark/pseuds/ephemeralstark
Summary: “How old are you?” Rhodey finally asked once the shock had settled enough.“Sixteen.”“He’s fifteen,” Tony corrected.“Almost sixteen though,” Peter said.“If you have to say almost then you’re not almost at all.”Tony is trying to cheer Peter up when Rhodey sees something that causes him concern, after deciding to investigate he learns that Tony has... a kid?
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 34
Kudos: 775
Collections: ellie marvel fics - read





	Pizza and Chocolate

When Rhodey arrived at The Compound, the first thing he saw made his heart thud slightly too fast in his chest and then sink. He had made his way down to Tony’s workshop with a spring in his step and a question about his legs on the tip of his tongue but the door was shut and there was a hastily written sign.

A piece of paper with ‘DON’T ENTER UNLESS BRINGING PIZZA AND/OR CHOCOLATE’ scribbled on it was taped to the glass, and Rhodey was quick to recognise Tony’s writing. The last time he had seen a sign like that he had walked in to find Tony lying on the ground, half under a workbench with an empty bottle in one hand and a half full one in the other. So naturally, his level of concern was rising.

He knocked on the door with two knuckles and opened it before receiving a reply, only to find himself met with darkness and the sparks from a welding tool.

“That’s it, keep holding it steady and move slowly,” he heard Tony say gently.

“Are you sure I won’t mess this up?” another voice asked.

“Have some more faith in yourself, Kiddo,” Tony said, “you’re doing great.”

“It’s just a lot of pressure,” the other person said, someone who Rhodey was beginning to realise was a child.

Could it be the child that Tony had recently taken to talking about incessantly? What had his name been? Percy? Parker? Paul? Whatever it had been, Rhodey had been surprised that his oldest friend was actually enjoying spending time with a teenager, especially considering that he normally ranted about their annoying tendencies and uselessness at interning.

“Kid, remember who you’re talking to here,” Tony muttered, “if you mess up then we’ll either fix it or start over, it’s not the end of the world.”

“It’s not?” The kid asked.

“Of course not, so quit worrying yourself.”

The kid turned the welding tool off and they were all bathed in darkness until Rhodey realised he needed to announce his arrival – since his knock hadn’t actually done the trick.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. turn the lights on,” Rhodey instructed.

_ “Yes, Sir,” _ F.R.I.D.A.Y. said,  _ “would you like me to alert boss to your arrival?” _

“Thanks, but I think he’s realised,” Rhodey said as he grinned at the shocked expression on his friend’s face that appeared as he removed his safety visor.

The kid beside him hadn’t clicked on that he should do the same and the military man he watched as a fond look crossed Tony’s face and he shook his head and pulled the visor off for the child. The kid was younger than Rhodey had expected, with a mess of curls that were slightly more awry thanks to the way the visor had been sitting and wide brown eyes that were staring at Rhodey with something that he was tempted to call hero worship. That couldn’t be right though, not when the kid was standing next to Iron Man.

“Mr. Stark!” The kid said shaking Tony’s arm without even looking at him and surprisingly not being shrugged off, “that’s Colonel Rhodes!”

“I’m aware,” Tony said drily, “didn’t you see the sign Honey-Bear?”

“The chocolate and pizza one?” Rhodey asked, “it may have caught my attention.”  _ And concern. _

“Well?” Tony demanded, “do you have either?”

The kid turned glanced at Tony before his eyes jumped to Rhodey’s hands, finding them empty.

“Why the sign?” Rhodey asked, ignoring the question.

“The kid suffered his first heartbreak today,” Tony explained, and Rhodey felt a flash of sympathy for the child who’s cheeks flushed red, “don’t get all embarrassed on us, we can trust Rhodey, he’s the one who talked me through all of my heartbreaks.”

“With pizza and chocolate?”

“Well, that and other things, but I’m responsible now and you’re underage,” Tony said, “so we’ll be sticking with the unhealthy dietary options my young Padawon.”

“It’s Padawan.”

“That’s what I said, Padawin,” Tony said with a grin and a wink towards Rhodey – he was winding the kid up on purpose.

“Mr. Stark,” the kid whined, elongating the vowel in his name dramatically in a way only a child could imitate, before sheepishly glancing over at Rhodey again as though he was only just remembering his presence. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll quit teasing you,” Tony said, ruffling the kid’s hair before carefully taking the welding tool out of his hands and setting on the heat-proof mat, “so, Honey-Bear, meet Peter, Peter, meet Honey-Bear.” 

That was apparently all the incentive the kid needed and he rushed forward and started vigorously shaking Rhodey’s hand - with the oversized heat-proof glove still on - while talking a million miles a minute about Rhodey’s career so far, knowing facts that Rhodey was barely able to remember himself. 

“-and then Ned was like ‘noooo, you can’t go as Iron Man,  _ I’m  _ going as Iron Man’ and I was all like ‘but Ned this is the school Halloween party, we could both just go as Iron Man’ and Ned refused before finally caving and said that I was allowed to go as him but by then I’d already started building a War Machine suit with my uncle so in the end I went as War Machine and I was the only War Machine and I won first place in the costume competition.” 

It took Rhodey a moment to realise that the kid had actually stopped talking, he was staring expectantly as though waiting for all that information to be processed and responded to, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to breathe although Rhodey doubted Peter was evening registering how out of breath he was. 

He gently flexed his fingers to remind the kid that he was still clutching his hand in that ridiculous glove, before Peter flushed bright red and started stammering out apologies, “oh, sorry, Sir, Colonel, I’m so sorry, I didn't- uh Mr. Stark is still training me in meeting his friends. I’m a bit embarrassing.” 

“Who else have you met?” Rhodey asked. 

“Oh, uh, Miss. Potts and Mr. Fury… officially.” 

“He met Nick Fury?” Rhodey asked, frowning slightly.

“Accidentally,” Tony said with a sigh, “he talked the eye patch off him and irritated him enough to save me from sitting through a meeting, I’d have done that months ago if I’d have known it’d work.” 

“He met Fury,” Rhodey repeated. 

“He was quieter than I would have thought,” Peter admitted. 

“That’s because no one can get a word in edgeways around you, Underoos,” Tony said although despite the teasing words it was impossible not to hear the fondness that layered them. 

“It’s my anxiety,” Peter said with a grin, “makes me talk to fill the silences so I don’t overthink.” 

“And yet you manage anyways,” Tony muttered. 

“You’d know all about that, wouldn't you?” Peter said with a laugh. 

“I feel like I’m having an out of body experience,” Rhodey muttered as he broke between the pair and sat on one of the stools, they turned to stare at him, side by side. 

Wait… 

Both of them had brown curly hair, although the older’s was littered with grey now. Their eyes were either the same shade of brown or very, very similar shades. Rhodey had been best friends with Tony throughout college and he couldn't deny that he felt as though he was staring into a mirror of the past. Even the slightly too short, lean stature was the same, and while nervous and twitchy, Peter excluded a similar sense of power as Tony had - although granted Tony’s had come from his parent’s money. 

Peter was strikingly similar to the Tony that Rhodey had met all those years ago. Granted he talked more and had a nervous energy rather than the coy, superior one that Tony used to have, but all in all, there were too many coincidences to ignore. 

“You good Honey-Bear?” Tony asked, frowning slightly in confusion as the kid beside him made the same expression, the similarities even more glaringly obvious. 

“You have a kid,” was all Rhodey could say. 

“Uh, well, I have to give him back at the end of the day but he’s handy to have around in the meantime. He learns quick and you can thank him for fixing the heat issue with the braces.” 

“But, how?” 

“Well Mr. Colonel Rhodes, Sir, it was pretty easy to fix once I realised what the problem was and-”

“No,” Rhodey interrupted, “how are you here?” 

“Happy picked me up,” Peter said, “after my girlfr- well ex-girlfriend’s dad got arrested she sent me an e-mail breaking it off and Mr. Stark promised to cheer me up so… yeah.” 

Rhodey sighed, “when did you realise Tony was your dad?” 

“What?” 

Two voices melded together to make the single confused exclamation, they instantly looked at one another before turning their confused gazes on Rhodey again as though he had all the answers - he didn't, he had all the questions. 

“Come on, you can’t hide this from  _ me _ ,” Rhodey said with a laugh, “I grew up with you man, I know what you looked like before those five pubic hairs on your chin grew into actual stubble, there’s no way this kid isn't your son.” 

“Pubic hair?” Tony asked, sounding offended while Peter ran his fingers over his own chin as though reassuring himself that there was no hair there, “my beard was beautiful, I had the girls and the boys falling over themselves to talk to me.”

“It was gross,” Rhodey said, breaking the painful truth to his best friend.

“Uh, Mr. Colonel Rhodes, Sir, I’m not Mr. Stark’s son,” Peter spoke up, seemingly distracted by that assumption, “my dad was called Richard.”

“There’s no way that’s true,” Rhodey said looking between them. 

“It is,” Tony said, nodding along with Peter, “he’s not my kid, I mean I wouldn't complain if he was - he’s crazy intelligent - but F.R.I.D.A.Y. ran a background test and his DNA confirmed he’s the son of Richard and Mary Parker.” 

“You ran a DNA test on me?” Peter asked. 

“Are you really surprised?” Tony asked him. 

“I suppose not, but still, how did you even get my DNA?” Peter wondered. 

“You fell asleep on my workbench and I collected your drool,” Tony said as though it were that simple, and really, when you were Tony Stark, it was. 

“Mr. Stark, really?” Peter asked, “if you took my DNA from your workbench then I’d already infiltrated your labs, you were a bit late. Just admit it, you’re a nosy old man.” 

“I’m not old,” Tony argued. 

“So you admit you’re nosy?” 

“So, he’s really not your son?” Rhodey asked, interrupting the two of them. 

“I promise you, he’s not my son,” Tony said seriously. 

“Yeah, I’m not,” Peter agreed, “I’m just Spider-Man.” 

“ _ Kid!” _

“Spider-Man?” Rhodey asked, blinking. 

“Oh, was I not meant to tell him?” Peter asked, “I thought we were gonna go with the truth so he stopped going down the son route.” 

“When did I even suggest that would be an option?” Tony asked, “this is my oldest friend Peter, and look at him, he’s probably going into shock.” 

“How old are you?” Rhodey finally asked once the shock had settled enough. 

“Sixteen.”

“He’s fifteen,” Tony corrected. 

“Almost sixteen though,” Peter said. 

“If you have to say almost then you’re not almost at all.” 

“He’s a child,” Rhodey muttered. 

“Yeah, and he acts like it too,” Tony said, rolling his eyes, “I still have to tell him when to shower, you’d think with that super Spidey nose he would want to stay clean, but apparently not.”

“I  _ fell _ down the  _ sewer _ ,” Peter said, and judging by his tone of voice this was an argument that they had gone through many times. 

“Uh huh, sure you did,” Tony muttered, “well, come on Honey-Bear, let’s go.”

“Go?” Rhodey asked, “go where?”

“Oh, didn't you know?” Tony asked with faux innocence, “the kid is heartbroken and you owe us pizza.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is based on a prompt I got eons and eons ago! I finally got around to writing it, it's not fully in line with the prompt but I hope it's enjoyed anyway!! 
> 
> Come find me on tumblr @[ephemeralstark ](ephemeralstark.tumblr.com) i accept prompts!!


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